Friday, July 03, 2009

In 2006, Massachusetts passed health care reform that implemented a number of policies that are now being mirrored in the Obama health reform plan. The president has repeatedly claimed that his plan will lower health care costs but not decrease health care quality. This visualization looks at how the Massachusetts plan has panned out in terms of cost and wait times.

The Dept of Defense briefed the President this morning. They told Obama that 2 Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone’s surprise, all the color drained from Obama’s face. Then he collapsed onto his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost in tears. Finally, he composed himself and asked, ‘Just how many is a Brazilian?’

Hey; but don’t laugh too hard since he obviously has no understanding of billion or trillion either.

The ultra-left, Israel-hating program "Democracy Now!" had a special treat yesterday - Mairead Maguire, Irish Nobel peace laureate and Free Gaza freak, called in from the jail in Israel to tell grateful listeners just how evil Israel is for stopping the latest publicity boat from landing.

Maguire spouts the usual lies and absurdities: that Israel threatened to shoot them, that Israel is breaking "every international law in the book," that she thinks that Israel used depleted uranium weapons, that Israel doesn't allow any human rights workers into Gaza, that the moonbats were "in grave danger of actually being killed" and "I really thought that we were all going to drown," and so forth. Somehow she doesn't mention that the Free Gaza people lied to the Cyprus authorities as to their declared destination, or otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to sail altogether.

Besides the irony of a Nobel Peace Prize winner whose group routinely supports Hamas terrorism and happily poses with and hugs mass murderers, there is a further irony:

This evil Israel, the object of her hate and loathing which she claims it treating the freaks of Gaza so badly, is letting her call up an anti-Israel radio show with an audience of millions from her jail. How many democracies, let alone police states, would allow that?

"Green Industrial Complex." That's an evocative phrase from Brendan O'Neill, writing in The Australian,describing the well-funded effort to convert America and the world to a carbon-free economy--and make billions, even trillions in the process. Here O'Neill zeroes in on the efforts of Al Gore, who sits at the center of this "GIC":

For a snapshot of the government and business interests intertwined in the rise of green capitalism, consider Al Gore. He's getting rich from environmentalism, not just by being paid a whopping $US175,000 ($217,500) a speech but by using political pressure to force government policy in a direction that benefits his business interests.

Gore is chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection, an outfit that seeks to "persuade people of the importance, urgency and feasibility" of going green. It recently launched a $US300 million ad campaign to coax American people and politicians to embrace the carbon-lite lifestyle.

But Gore is also chairman of a greeninvestment firm called Generation Investment Management, which is a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration of businesses and science bodies, and which invests in firms that produce renewable energy and low-carbon technology. So Gore uses one of his multimillion-dollar organisations, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to put pressure on government to promote the low-carbon lifestyle that will furnish one of his other multimillion-dollar organisations, General Investment Management, with booming business.

Gore's activities provide only a glimpse into the new collusion between greens, businesses and government. So speedily has this network come together that according to one critic of the politics of environmentalism, Bjorn Lomborg, it is not going too far to liken the new green-industrial complex to the military-industrial complex that president Dwight Eisenhower warned of in the 1950s.

We have seen this before, of course, with Enron, which had the same idea: use political connections to rewire the regulatory system to its own advantage. Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and all those other crooks had a moneymaking vision, but they were simply ahead of their time.

So now, with better timing--and no doubt better lawyers--Jeff Immelt of General Electric picks up the green torch. That's "green" as in the environment, and "green" as in money. The same eco-fiscal scam, is happening today, only this time with the full faith and credit of the US government falling in behind Gore's and Immelt's rent-seeking efforts, thanks to Barack Obama. .....

“I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses,” the president said, standing alongside Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the White House.

Possibly the most shameful and heartbreaking aspect of the Obama presidency is that until it is finally over, America — which has sacrificed so much blood around the world in defense of liberty — is now on the side of tyranny.

When Hugo Chavez wannabe Manuel Zelaya tried to set himself up as a socialist dictator in Honduras, he was thankfully slapped back into place by Hondurans who want to continue to live in a democracy. Shockingly, the same Comrade Obama who didn't want to get involved by speaking out against Ahmadinejad's thugs shooting women in the streets of Iran came out promptly and strongly on the side of Zelaya. The liberal media that installed Obama in office has unsurprisingly followed suit, by ignoring the story or by mischaracterizing it as a military coup, despite the legislative and judiciary branches acting in unanimous opposition to Zelaya's unconstitutional attempt to do away with term limits.

The greatest tourist attraction in Central America has always been politics. Diplomats stop by every few years, take a couple of snapshots of what's going on at the presidential palace, and then profoundly declare their opinions, devoid of context or history. This week's favorite diplotourism destination is Honduras, where the army Sunday arrested President Manuel Zelaya and booted him across the border to Costa Rica. In the Polaroid analysis, it's pretty clear what happened: ''A return to barbarism in our hemisphere,'' as Argentina's president Cristina Fernández put it.

She had plenty of company. ''The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all,'' said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. ``We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law.''

The OAS Permanent Council voted ''to condemn vehemently the coup d'etat staged this morning against the constitutionally established government of Honduras.'' U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded ``the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country and full respect for human rights.''

Here's a question for all these new-found defenders of Honduran democracy: Where were you last week? Perhaps if some of these warnings about sticking to the constitution had been addressed to President Zelaya, the Honduran army would still be in the barracks where it belongs.

A naked power grab

For weeks, Zelaya -- an erratic leftist who styles himself after his good pal Hugo Chávez of Venezuela -- has been engaged in a naked and illegal power grab, trying to rewrite the Honduran constitution to allow him to run for reelection in November.

First Zelaya scheduled a national vote on a constitutional convention. After the Honduran supreme court ruled that only the country's congress could call such an election, Zelaya ordered the army to help him stage it anyway. (It would be ''non-binding,'' he said.) When the head of the armed forces, acting on orders from the supreme court, refused, Zelaya fired him, then led a mob to break into a military base where the ballots were stored.

His actions have been repudiated by the country's supreme court, its congress, its attorney-general, its chief human-rights advocate, all its major churches, its main business association, his own political party (which recently began debating an inquiry into Zelaya's sanity) and most Hondurans: Recent polls have shown his approval rating down below 30 percent.

In fact, about the only people who didn't condemn Zelaya's political gangsterism were the foreign leaders and diplomats who now primly lecture Hondurans about the importance of constitutional law. They're also strangely silent about the vicious stream of threats against Honduras spewing from Chávez since Zelaya was deposed.

Warning that he's already put his military on alert, Chávez on Monday flat-out threatened war against Honduras if Roberto Micheletti, named by the country's congress as interim president until elections in November, takes office.

''If they swear him in we'll overthrow him,'' Chávez blustered. ``Mark my words. Thugetti -- as I'm going to refer to him from now on -- you better pack your bags, because you're either going to jail or you're going into exile.''

Hey, Hillary: What does the Inter-American charter say about that?

The Honduran army clearly did not act on its own when it arrested Zelaya and sent him packing. The supreme court says the generals acted on its orders, and almost every Honduran politician of any note -- regardless of party -- has voiced approval.

Long, unpleasant history

They may come to regret their decision. Honduras had a long and unpleasant history of military government in the 20th century, and perhaps the army will not march back into Pandora's box and close the lid behind it so willingly.

But the initial signs are promising; the army, after getting rid of Zelaya, put congress in charge of choosing his replacement. Elections are still scheduled for November. Let's see if the OAS and the United Nations and the Obama administration come back to take another snapshot then.

A new Gallup poll has some interesting results; this year the number of Americans who described the Democratic Party’s views as “too liberal” increased to a historic high mark (46%), putting it slightly ahead of the number who say the Republican Party is “too conservative” (43%).

Rasmussen’s new poll, taken before the release of June’s unemployment numbers, shows significant slippage for Barack Obama on the economy, his central issue. Only 42% of American voters give him excellent or good marks on handling the economy, the lowest ratings he has yet received. His personal approval rate has fallen to 53%, and the “passion index” has dropped to -2:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 33% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. This is the third straight day the Approval Index has been below zero (see trends).

A Rasmussen video report notes that 42% now give the President good or excellent marks for handling the economy . That’s his lowest rating to date …

Overall, 53% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance so far. Forty-six percent (46%) disapprove.

Obama has hit a new high among those rating him fair or poor on the economy at 56%. Just a week ago, 47% approved of his economic policies, as opposed to 50% disapproval, a margin of 3% — a statistical dead heat. Obama had been seen more favorable than not on the economy as late as the second week of May, when he held a 51%-48% advantage.

The demographics of his decline portend more bad news for Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress. Only the youngest voters support him on fiscal policy, and only barely, 52%-46%. Every other age demographic above 30 years of age has majorities now showing disapproval. Independents have begun to run away in massive numbers; they now oppose him 75%-23%, a huge break away from Obama and a sign that his supposed moderate stances have been exposed as shams. Every income level except the lowest also has majorities disapproving of his handling of the economy. Voters outside the “political class” oppose Obama 65%-33%.

Obama doesn’t fare well on national security, either. Rasmussen reports that Obama only has 44% approval on these issues, and 55% opposing him. Majorities of both women and men view him disfavorably. Every income level has majorities opposed to Obama, and independents disapprove 68%-31%. Obama only wins within the $60K-$75K income level; even his base of support among the lowest income earners narrowly reject Obama’s national-security policies, 52%-47%.

Obama isn’t just coming back to Earth in the polling. He’s losing independents and demonstrating his radical bent on policy, and more and more Americans have begun to see it

The aggressively worded pitch gives the impression that The Post is selling access to special interests, not just to administration officials and lawmakers - which raises a separate set of questions about cozy relationships — but to the people who produce the newspaper. The Post often raises questions about whether corporations, unions and trade associations receive access or favors in return for campaign contributions to political candidates.

Now the fliers have raised the question of whether the newspaper itself is pursuing such a strategy in exchange for hefty fees from special-interest groups. Access to Weymouth herself, a granddaughter of longtime publisher Katharine Graham who took over as chief executive of Washington Post Media last year, would be deemed valuable by those trying to influence The Post’s editorial policies and news coverage.

The Post Co. lost $19.5 million in the first quarter and just completed its fourth round of early-retirement buyouts in several years, prompting Weymouth to look for new sources of revenue.

Kudos to Howard for playing it straight, and getting to the heart of the problem.

Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth today canceled plans for a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress and Post journalists in exchange for payments as high as $250,000.

“Absolutely, I’m disappointed,” Weymouth, the chief executive of Washington Post Media, said in an interview. “This should never have happened. The fliers got out and weren’t vetted. They didn’t represent at all what we were attempting to do. We’re not going to do any dinners that would impugn the integrity of the newsroom.”

Moments earlier, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli said in a separate interview that he was “appalled” by the plan and had insisted before the cancellation that the newsroom would not participate.

“It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase,” Brauchli said. The proposal “promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post.”

The Honduras issue is at the 7:15 minute mark into this interview, but the whole interview is good to watch.

(Guest host Juan Williams questions Bill Burton the Deputy White House Press Secretary. Mr. Burton seems to have no clue about the economic relationship between imposing new taxes and rising prices.)

Honduras resists [Obama’s] pressure to allow Zelaya's return

July 2, 2009 // By Patrick Markey

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Rejecting the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Honduras' interim leaders dug in for a fight on Thursday after governments across the region demanded the deposed leftist be restored to power.

In the worst crisis in Central America in a decade, Zelaya was toppled by troops and whisked out of the country on the weekend in a widely condemned coup after he angered opponents with plans to amend the constitution to lift term limits.

The Organization of American States on Wednesday issued a weekend deadline for the interim government to reinstate Zelaya, in a standoff that is testing U.S. President Barack Obama's administration after he promised an era of better relations with the region.

"We have established a democratic government and we will not cede to pressure from anyone. We are a sovereign country," said Roberto Micheletti, who was named as caretaker president by Honduran lawmakers shortly after Zelaya's ouster.

Zelaya, a logging magnate fond of wearing cowboy hats with his suits, has promised to return, but appeared to be waiting for the outcome of the OAS ultimatum. An OAS mission will arrive this week to discuss the ouster, the caretaker government said.

Honduras, an impoverished coffee exporter of around 7 million people, has seen days of protests against Sunday's ouster, but the interim government has rallied supporters onto the streets, underlining divisions over Zelaya's return.

The Honduran Congress approved a decree to crack down on opposition during a nightly curfew imposed after the coup. The decree allows security forces to hold suspects for more than 24 hours without charge and formalizes the prohibition of the right to free association at night.

But Tegucigalpa, the capital city nestled in low-lying hills, has remained mostly calm, with traffic clogging streets and most businesses open during the day, although schools remained closed.

CHAVEZ FACTOR

The army ousted a president who took office in 2006 and who had upset the country's traditional elite with a leftward tilt that many worried would take him down the same path as Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez.

His popularity had dipped to around 30 percent in recent months.

The interim government says it took a legal course in ousting Zelaya -- the Supreme Court said it instructed the army to remove him and Congress voted in the acting president until elections to be held in November.

Opponents of Zelaya believe he was pushing the limits of democracy with his drive to extend the single four-year term of presidents to allow re-election. He faces arrest on a raft of criminal charges if he returns to Honduras.

Several Latin American presidents, including Chavez and his allies in Ecuador and Bolivia, have extended term limits that were often written into constitutions as safeguards after decades of dictatorship in many parts of the region.

Obama's administration is playing a limited, behind-the-scenes role to show support for democracy and in Zelaya's restoration without being accused of meddling -- a historic charge against Washington from Latin America....